Visions of Eight

This documentary of the 1972 Summer Olympics, held in Munich, is remarkable for bringing eight of the world's most notable film directors to work on it. They are: Milos Forman, Yuri Ozerov, Mai Zetterling, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, Kon Ichikawa, Claude Lelouch and John Schlesinger. Each director concentrated on events that were of interest to him and filmed in his own style. For instance, Foreman focused on the comic aspect of the games; Lelouch kept his sights on the losers rather than the winners; and Mai Zetterling examined obsession in the form of weightlifting. The movie does not attempt to comprehensively document the '72 Olympics and does not aim for a unified vision. Instead, it showcases the talents of these directors under the inspiration of this most dramatic of gatherings.